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l*riv. Co. -'A,-' 35th, Iowa. 



THE VETERAN'S 



-FOR 



Oi'vil S^ox'^^trloo; 






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TiiK VETEKAA S 



FOR 



BY 

Friv. Co. ^'A',"35th, Iowa. 

Hev I cbme to be examined? yes: 
Tkink I'll pass? I cannot tell, 

Tho' I'm not a askin' favors 
I'll say I'm far from well. 

I may not know ray p's and q's 

As ready as 1 should. 
For many things I hev iOrgot— 

More never understood. 

I never went to college 'cept 

Some twenty years ago, 
I took some hurried lessons in 

U. P. mannels you know. 



Onr sciiool want uo nt-uleiny 
That worked by '"rule u' tliree." 

The teachers didn't go much on tliat 
As any one could see. 

We didn't go fur in rethmetic 
But could right a column o' ten; 

Yet mostly counted "one," "two," 
An' "one" an' •'two" again. 

An' yet at workin' fiij'ers out 

We knew a little more; 
For when we shifted columns about 

'Twas quickly done by "fours." 

Our rethmetic it was not built 

On the rule o' three, tis true. 
P'raps 'twas jest as handy tho' 
.'Twas the rule o' "double two." 

A»' when our teachers wished to try 
If our heads were gettin thick; 

They made us work our problems by 
The rule o' "double quick." 

The "properties of numbers" all 
We found wrapped up in "one.' 

Its "symbol" 'bove all vain cabal. 
Was "U N 1 O N," 



We studied tj^rammer, too. as well, 

But I ;im forced to slate. 
Our lan^^uage was symbolical 

An' quite gesticulate. 

A.n' oft as Lee would formulate 
Some lines — I mind them yet, — 

We taught him how to punctuate 
Them with the bayonet. 

We took some higher branches, too, 

An' closely did pursue: 
An' ef you think I'm boastin', now. 

Ask Bragg ef 'lisn'l true. 

In g'ometry we worked a bit. 
But nothin' much lo speak; 

Yet when we were hard pushed to it. 
Could "scale" a mountain peak. 

I 'member our boys did ii once. 

At Lookout's lofty brow; 
Grant said we done it splendidly. 

An' I guess that he knew ho^. 

We done some t^ill surveyin', too. 

In that old class you bet; 
I think our lines an' corner stOxies 

Quite easily found yet. 



We r8-surve5'ed Virginy, 

Didvifled her in two; 
Gave half to blackened infamy, 

An' half to Union true. 

Surveyed the heights of Tennessee, 

By trench, redan an' bridge, 
An' stamped our blood-red seal upon 

Old Missionary Ridge, 

Ln feats of engineerin', 

We sometimes failed I know: 

But then on mines an' trenches, 
We w^a'nt so tarn el slow. 

There's Johnson, Loring an' Pemberton; 

We smote them thigh an' hip, 
While Vicksburi>''s brave embattled hills 

We tunneled in Massasip. 

We worked some, too, in 'stronomy. 

Tho' our 'scopes were hardly good. 
But with the ciouds of war so dense, 

We done the best we could. 

We taught the rebels how to see 

The North star's lofty light; 
An' not to Meander off again, 

In treason's starless night. 



• 
Ai. )H Ihe clKin.:i:(ni^ t-quiiiox 

Of proiul aiui li.ippy nations. 
They must not lose a sinj^le star 

In tlie Union constellation. 

The 'phone" it wan't invented then— 

Nor many my.steries more- 
Yet we whispered in rebellion's car. 
Thro' many a "fifty-four. • 

Uur principles: clean cut and clear. 

Out-dating phonic sages: 
Our children and the world shall hear 

Grandly echoing down the ages. 

We took some lessons in drawin' too, 

And got it pretty pat: 
On Sherman's march through Georgia 

We done the most o' that. 

Yes, we were some in graphics 

From Atlanta to the sea; 
An' gave some free-hand lessons to 

Bragg, Hampton an' Hardee- 

We taught them that in drafting 
Each movement, should, in fine, 

Be constirtutionally perspective, 
An' in patria-matic line. 



We (lal)blo(l some in pMintini^-. too; 

But I have lie.ird il said 
That critics claim the 'boys in blue" 

Used rather too much red. 

But one thing- to my mind is clear: 

Each battle-scene's a gem; 
Tho' art should toil for many a year 
•Twill never rival them. 

* » * * # * -;a ^ 

So bring along your papers an' 

Ef I've forgot the rule 
Just give the place I ought to have 

To some '-Kid" right ^nt o' school. 

Canev, Kansas 
Sept. Ist, 1889. " • 



* 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



the year 1890. 
the office of t„- 
at Washington. 





015 971 870 



The author is helplessly invalid 
and draws only a small pension. 
All comrades should help him by 
purchasing this poem. 



The Caney Chuonicle Book Pkint, 
CANEY, KANSAS. 



